BALTIMORE — The Maryland Attorney General's Office on Tuesday released an investigative report explaining its decision not to prosecute three Baltimore Police officers who shot and killed a man in June.
Investigators determined Bilial Abdullah "was the aggressor because he fired the initial shot, then aimed and fired at the subject officers."
As result, prosecutors concluded the officers acted in "complete self-defense," out of fear for "their own lives, each other’s lives, and the lives of the civilians."
Known as "BJ," Abdullah was a well known neighborhood Arabber, who sold produce from a horse-drawn cart.
His death drew criticism from various community organizations who've called for the involved officers to face justice.
One group, The Peoples Power Assembly, said the Attorney General's report is "lazy, inaccurate, and cursory."
Despite evidence reviewed by the Attorney General's Office during a six month investigation, the group faults police.
“This was a conflict they started. They murdered a man and they put the entire community in danger,” said People’s Power Assembly attorney, Alec Summerfield. "They just want to say we did nothing wrong and we're not going to do anything about it. Well, we are, his community is, his family is.”
The tragic chain of events began when a citizen texted a Baltimore Police sergeant pictures of a man, later identified as Abdullah, walking on Pennsylvania Avenue with a bag that supposedly contained a gun.
Detectives Devon Yancy and Omar Rodriguez responded along with officer Ashley Negron.
At first, Abdullah walked up to greet the officers at their cruiser.
As he began walking away, Rodriguez began to follow, prompting Abdullah to run.
Rodriguez eventually caught up with Abdullah, at which time he fired off a round.
Body-worn camera footage of the incident then shows Abdullah turning, aiming, and shooting at Yancy, striking him in the foot.
All three officers then returned fire, killing Abdullah.
Police recovered a loaded Colt .38 semiautomatic handgun at the scene.
Ballistic evidence revealed Abdullah fired at least three rounds at officers.
Police, in response, fired at least 35 shots, hitting Abdullah seven times.
According to the Attorney General's Office, it took police around four minutes to provide first aid because they were surrounded by a hostile group of bystanders who "began yelling and shoving Rodriguez away from Mr. Abdullah."
Abdullah's mother, Joy Alston, feels that officers failed to do their job, and instead resorted to "slaughtering" her son.
“My son was a human being. He was slaughtered like he was a pig in the street, like his life didn't matter," said Alston. "Police officers are trained to defend a situation, not escalate a situation.”
